'Moment of Truth' for U.N. As War Looms

BEN FOX

Published
6:00 pm CST, Sunday, March 16, 2003

Associated Press Writer

The clock ticked toward a "moment of truth" set by President Bush and key allies for the United Nations to authorize war against Saddam Hussein, but France and Russia remained opposed to an immediate ultimatum for Iraq to prove it has disarmed.

Meanwhile, war appeared imminent. The United States advised U.N. weapons inspectors to begin pulling out of Baghdad while both the U.S. and British governments advised their citizens to leave Kuwait and neighboring countries, citing the risk of chemical or biological attack by Iraq or by terrorists.

Bush, at a summit with allies Britain, Spain and Portugal, said the Security Council would have until Monday to adopt a resolution with enough teeth to satisfy the U.S.-led coalition demanding that Saddam immediately destroy banned weapons.

In setting the deadline, in which Bush warned that "Tomorrow is a moment of truth for the world," the United States and its allies planned a last-minute barrage of phone calls to Security Council members, seeking to sway enough votes for a resolution authorizing war.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, flying home from the summit Sunday evening, told reporters that diplomats would work through the night to try and find common ground. "You cannot have a resolution which simply stipulates further discussion," he said.

Blair faced trouble at home: He called an emergency Cabinet meeting on Monday to contain a rebellion within his governing Labor Party by lawmakers opposed to military action without U.N. backing.

One Bush administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the president planned to address the nation shortly after the diplomatic window closed Monday.

In another sign that war planning was advancing rapidly, the commander who would lead a U.S. invasion of Iraq, Gen. Tommy Franks, was in Kuwait on Monday for talks with his generals and to meet with Kuwaiti officials. The bulk of the nearly 300,000 U.S. and British forces built up to challenge Saddam are in Kuwait.

It appeared almost certain that a U.S.-led war would have to go ahead without U.N. authorization because the Security Council remains bitterly divided and no acceptable compromise is on the table.

France and Russia remained opposed to the ultimatum sought by the Bush administration.

France called for an emergency U.N. ministerial meeting Tuesday to set a timetable for Iraq's peaceful disarmament, ignoring the deadline set by the United States and its allies.

French President Jacques Chirac said he was willing to accept a one-month or two-month deadline for Iraq to disarm, provided the move was endorsed by U.N. weapons inspectors. Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin reiterated France's threat to use its veto to block a resolution that paves the way to war.

Russia's deputy foreign minister, Yuri Fedotov, said Monday that a U.S.-backed resolution authorizing war has "no chances" of passage at the Security Council.

Ending weeks of silence on the issue, Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned military action against Iraq, saying Monday that war would be a mistake that could imperil world security.

The U.N. weapons inspectors were not alone in preparing to exit Iraq. Several nations closed their embassies.

NBC News, concerned about safety, is removing its six-member television crew from Baghdad, a network spokeswoman told The New York Times.

Baghdad store owners moved merchandise to the relative safety of warehouses, fearing bombs and looting if a war starts, while residents flooded markets stocking up on food and taped their windows to guard against flying glass.

U.N. observers have ceased operations on the Iraq-Kuwait border and moved to the Kuwait side of the demilitarized zone established after the 1990-91 Gulf War.

On Sunday, U.N. weapons inspectors flew five of their eight helicopters out of Iraq after an insurance company suspended its coverage amid fears war is imminent.

Later, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein warned that if Iraq is attacked, it will take the war anywhere in the world "wherever there is sky, land or water." He also issued a decree dividing his country into four military regions, placing his son Qusai and three other close loyalists in command.